How do I upload a video to youtube?

In this blog, I'm going to explain what I do when I upload a video.

• How do I upload a video to you tube
• How do I optimize it for the search engines
• How do I ensure viewer engagement
• How to promote the video

First of all, if you don't have a you tube channel you need to create a Google account here, and then sign in to you tube with your Google account.

Uploading your Video

Go to your channel and click the upload button in the top right

You can either select files from your computer to upload, or drag and drop video files. You can select, from public, unlisted, private or scheduled. If you want your video to be found by any-one you should choose public.

Make sure your video is in one of the following formats before you upload it.

• .MOV
• .MPEG4
• .AVI
• .WMV
• .MPEGPS
• .FLV
• 3GPP
• WebM

Your video make take several minutes to upload, but you can make changes while it's doing this...

Optimizing for the Search Engines (Titles, Descriptions and Tags)

You tube needs to know what your video is about, you can tell it this by the words and phrases you use in your titles, tags and descriptions.

Type in your title, include your key words, my keyword phrase for this video was 'cute cat birthday' so incorporated this into the video title 'Cute Cat Singing Happy birthday to You '

Type in your description, you can add any links to your blog or website in the description that you might want to promote, and remember to use your key words or phrase at least once but not more than twice, otherwise it will look like spam.

Add your tags, these are the words or phrases that you want your video to be found for. You can use your own, or You tube will suggest some based on your video title. In this video my tags were - cute cat birthday, cute cat, birthday cat, happy birthday cat, cat singing happy birthday, persian kitten -  I might add some more later.

Viewer Engagement (Content, Thumb Nails and Annotations)

The little picture that shows up the searches is called a thumbnail. You need viewers to click on your thumb nail, so make sure it's a good one. It should be clear, enticing and relevant to your video. You tube will suggest some thumbnails for you, or you can simply upload a picture.

So your viewer has searched for your topic, found your video and clicked on your thumb nail, so how do you keep her there? Simple, great content, you make sure your content is engaging - keep it short, snappy and interesting.

Add annotations to your video, this is a little box that pops up and gives the viewer some information, such as a subcribe button or a link to another video or play list. Use these in the last 5-10 seconds of your video as a call to action.

Promote your Video

Add a message to your video, try to use your key word of phrase again, you can also choose to share on facebook, twitter and google+ if you have these linked to your you tube account.

Once your video is published you should promote it on your social media platforms where ever you can, naturally and with out spamming. I use Blogger, Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook and Google+, building up an audience on these platforms is a whole other story!

If you have playlist on your channel you can choose a playlist to add your video too, I chose Cute and funny animal birthday songs, this should get you some more views if you list your playlists on your channel

Your video is now ready to Publish, click Publish now. 

To recap

• How do I upload a video to you tube -  click upload and publish
• How do I optimize it for the search engines - use your key word in the title, description and tags
• How do I ensure viewer engagement - with great content and annotations
• How to promote the video - through social media, blogs and any way you can

Let me know how you got on. leave a comment below and feel free to post a link...:-)